In One Piece
by stylish-kid-in-the-riot
Summary: Focuses on Castiel losing his grace after being taken to hell by Alistair and the fight to find it. Includes Dean, Sam and a bit of Alistair. Probably will have lots of angst when it gets going..
1. Chapter 1

I've been thinking about writing a Supernatural fic for a while now, and what better way to start than by writing about our beloved Castiel?

This story is about Castiel losing his grace after being taken to hell and the fight to find it. I've named the story "In One Piece" to reflect the general plot...getting Castiel back into one piece. I'll also be including lots of Dean & Sam (because a Supernatural fic wouldn't be complete without them!), and Alistair (because he's my new favourite bad guy). It takes place after 4x10, and is being written before 4x13.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Supernatural, nor do I own any of the characters in the show.....those all belong to Mr Kripke and the network.....

**Authors Note: **Any character thoughts will be shown in _italics_.

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The sound of metal against metal was the first thing he heard when he woke up. He could also hear people shouting and groaning. Opening his eyes, he could see the night sky and the heavens that flowed above it, but they were tainted with and orange glow.

"_What happened?"_ He thought to himself. He felt pain that he knew he should not feel; he was an angel, able to withstand human wounds and pain. As his view faded in and out of focus, Black clouds of smoke seemed to float above him, as did white balls of light, and they seemed to be clashing into one another. Lifting his head up, he noticed blood, lots of blood. It was all over his jacket and the ground around him. Turning his head to the side, he could see humans fighting with swords _"hosts" _he remembered. They had been battling for the seal, the seal of Broxin, which was vital that they protected, at all costs.

"Castiel....brother, you must wake up!" A deep voice called to him, breaking into his thoughts, and coming closer as it spoke. Uriel leaned over him, as he said "The battle is commencing at a faster rate than anticipated...we need you. Are you able to continue?", while holding his hand out to help Castiel up.

Castiel nodded and said "Yes, of course. We must continue to hold the seal" as he reached up to take the offered hand.

A sudden blast blew in between both of the angels, which knocked Uriel back against a tree. Two demons held Uriel in place against the tree, and two more stood in front of Uriel, all of them using their power to keep him in place. As this happened, the large cloud of grey smoke cleared and Alistair appeared in front of Castiel, who had propelled himself up with the shock of what had happened.

"Well well well, we meet again boys..." Alistair said in his usual sarcastic voice, almost as if he was hissing with delight at how well his plan had gone. He continued "...pity it couldn't have been in more traditional surroundings. But, you know, needs must and so on" as he looked at Uriel, with a sly grin on his face.

"You..." Uriel started to say but was pinned back and fell to the ground. The demons that had been surrounding him disappeared.

"Alistair" Castiel faced the demon, with a slight feeling of disgust that was evident in his voice. "What have you done? You know what we will do to you and your soldiers here" Castiel said, as he began to step forward towards Alistair.

"Ah ah ah, now, you didn't think I wouldn't come unprepared after the last time?" Alistair said, turning towards Castiel. This stopped him from advancing any further forward. Alistair continued "I'll thank you to remember in the future that this lot..." he gestured toward the battle "...are not my soldiers. We only come from the same place. Don't judge us all by the same book."

Castiel sighed and said "Well, now that we have that cleared up. We cannot let your, er, friends here, win this seal" while taking a step forward toward the demon. He stopped as he began to sway.

Looking the angel up and down, Alistair said "Oh, how interesting. You were knocked down by a hit from the knife? And you're still feeling the effects. Hmm..." breaking off, he looked at Castiel as though he was deep in thought. "... it's so simple. Of course!" He nodded towards Castiel as he asked "Any last goodbyes?" and held his hand out towards him. The angel was ready to spring into action as he felt himself being grabbed from behind and in a split second, he felt his power and energy fading away quickly. The world faded to black as he heard one of his brothers call his name.....

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**Authors Note:** That was the first chapter, I have the second chapter almost ready...well... depending on how this one is recieved! Don't be be shy to tell me what you think, good or bad. Let me know your thoughts & suggestions!


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to all of you who took the time to read the first chapter & special thanks to those who reviewed/subscribed! I understand that the first chapter was a little short, but it was an introduction to the story, which I had never intended to be very long. I don't have a beta reader at present, although I am looking, so any mistakes are all my own doing.

**Disclaimer: **I sadly do not own Supernatural, or any of the characters.....those all belong to Mr Kripke and the network..... I might add in a few of my own as the story develops.

**Authors Note: **Any character thoughts will be shown in _italics_. I will make it clear which is which though. Also, this story takes place after episode 4x10, and I'll probably work from there, and not include anything from 4x11 onwards...unless I'm really inspired to do so.

* * *

The road was long & dark as the brothers made their way back from the hunt. It had been a simple haunting, which ended up in a standard salt & burning of the remains. This had been just what they needed after the events of their last 'hunt', which ended up with the girl they were sent to protect by a demon turning out to be an angel.

"So..." Dean began as they drove down the road back to the motel "...that was almost a little too simple after recent events wouldn't you say?" as he turned to look at Sam. He felt like Sam had been acting oddly towards him ever since he had revealed what happened in hell. The little voice in the back of his mind – which just so happened to sound like Alistair – said _"that's because he thinks you're a monster now"_. Dean shook his head, trying to shake away that thought.

"Yeah, well not everything has to be complicated Dean" Sam replied, turning towards his brother. Dean was still looking at Sam. "Don't you think your eyes should be on the road dude?" Sam asked. Dean raised his eyebrows in question at the tone Sam had used, but turned his head back to the road. "What?" Sam asked.

"It doesn't matter Sam." Dean replied as he flipped the radio onto almost full volume when a classic song came on. The rest of the journey back to the motel was made in an uncomfortable silence between the brothers.

When they got back to the motel, Dean switched off the car almost at the same time as he put her into park. Noting that this was something his brother never did, and that it was something he had gotten onto Sam about doing in case he killed her, Sam decided to mention it jokingly. "Dude, what was that about? You almost took my head off when I done that a few times?"

"Just get off my case Sam!" Dean said as he opened the door and almost jumped from the car. Sam instantly followed. Dean opened the door to their room and threw the door closed behind him, Sam just caught it in time or he would have ended up being locked out. Dean was facing the back wall of the room when Sam came in.

"Dean! What the hell?! I was trying to joke and lighten the mood. I get that things have been hard for you since you came back, but Dean..." Sam said, trying to control himself. He'd waited so long to talk to his brother about both of their feelings since Dean's return from hell that it all tried to tumble out in the one breath.

"Hard? You 'get' that things have been hard for me Sam?" Dean said while turning round to face his brother. He could feel all of the anger he had at himself for what he did in hell boiling to the surface, threatening to come out. "You don't know the half of it!"

"Yeah, I do 'get' that things have been hard for you Dean. Things have been hard for us all since you died that night." Sam said as he walked towards Dean. Taking a calming breath as he stopped in front of his brother, he said "But Dean, you don't talk to anyone about it. It took you God knows how long to tell me about something you remembered from hell".

"T'yeah. And you've been walking on egg shells ever since Sam." Dean said as he moved away from Sam. "You don't know how to act around me anymore. I can see it every time you look at me, every time open your mouth to speak." he continued, feeling the boiling anger come closer to the surface.

At that moment the door to their motel room was knocked. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me" Dean said as he went to answer the door. As he opened the door, he asked "What?!" which was closely followed by another "You gotta be kidding me" when he seen who was at the door.

He moved aside to let Uriel pass into the room and instantly walked to the back to the room to stand beside Sam. Behind Uriel another 'person', or angel, walked into the room. Both looked like they had just returned from a large battle. Their clothes were smoke stained, and caked in mud in some parts, smeared with blood in others. Both faces were very sombre and serious looking.

"So what... you guys are only just learning to knock on doors?" Dean asked, still feeling some anger left over from his argument with Sam.

"Believe it or not, Dean Winchester, we do know how to knock on doors. We may not have been amongst you in a very long time, but that does not mean we haven't observed your behaviour" Uriel said, the usual bite gone from his voice.

"So, uh, where's Castiel?" Sam asked, taking in the appearance of the two angels who stood before him.

"And who's this?" Dean added to Sams question, pointing to the angel standing beside Uriel.

"To answer your question Dean, this is one of our brothers. Acarya. His powers are unique and he is here to help us..." The angel standing beside Uriel nodded his head slightly as if to say hello. Uriels face looked as though he was grieving.

Acarya picked up where Uriel had trailed off "...To find Castiel...we don't know exactly where he is, although we can hazard a very good guess. I can't feel him well enough to find out his location." As he said this his eyes fell to the floor.

"So what happened?" Sam asked the angels.

Uriel told them about the latest battle and how Castiel had been taken from them by Alistair.

"Shit! This is so not good" Dean said, earning disapproving looks from the three faces looking him. "Uh, sorry. But it's not. We have to find him. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"Yes, we know you wouldn't Dean. It is vital that we bring him back from there. He knows all of our plans and strategies. We think they are planning to take his grace and interrogate him as a human." Uriel said. He turned to Acarya, who had a looked of strained concentration on his face and asked "Anything?" Acarya merely shook his head. Putting a hand on his brothers shoulder, Uriel said "Okay. Rest now. We will need your power to be fully useful later. We all need to come up with a plan, where we can all work together."

"Yeah, we do. Why don't Dean & I start with research on rituals that would be used to extract an angels grace?" Sam asked.

Uriel nodded and answered "Yes. That's good idea. We will go look around and see if we can get anyone to talk about where he might be." With that the angels disappeared in a fraction of a second, and Dean & Sam hit the research.

* * *

"Wakey wakey rise and shine" The sly voice invaded his thoughts. Castiel opened his eyes to see rock above him. He knew he was lying flat on his back, on top of what felt like rock. He tried to get up and fly away, not fully remembering what had happened to him. "Oh I wouldn't try that if I were you. Your just gonna damage your fine packaging." Alistair said, leaning over his face.

"Where am I? What are you doing?" Castiel asked.

"I could tell you, but I'm saving that for later. It's sort of part of my big finale. Guess if you want." Alistair said, with a mocking laughter while moving around the room.

Castiel took more note of his surroundings. He lifted up his head to see that his hands and ankles were restrained with thick dark metal cuffs. There were symbols painted onto his chest. He was in a room which almost resembled a cave, but something felt very familiar, almost warm, about this room. It was lit by candle & firelight, and there were large thick books on shelves around it, there were also glass bottles & containers dotted around the room.

"Oh..." Alistair said, interrupting Castiels inspection of his surroundings "...and don't bother trying to use your powers and contacting daddy or your brothers. They won't find you. Those symbols will block them for now until we find something more permanent."

Castiel felt the panic rise within him. He thought of struggling to free himself, and he thought of screaming for his brothers and his Father to help him, but he decided to try to stay calm and not play into the demons games.

"Huh" Alistair sighed. "Not the reaction I was expecting son, but, we do have lots of time and I enjoy a good build up". He waved his hand and he was suddenly surrounded by twelve demons who were all wearing long black cloaks with their hoods pulled up. "Okay, let's get him ready boys". He said. With that, the demons moved to Castiels arms & legs, three at each one. At the same time, his cuffs were released and he was lifted over to a table. His arms were stretched above his head and he felt bindings being fastened onto his ankles and wrists again.

"Much better". Alistair said. "Okay, go get what we need." He waved is hand and eleven of the demons disappeared. Looking at Castiel, Alistair smirked and said "I prefer to be as alone as possible when I work. Now, here's how this will go. I ask you question, you answer it truthfully, no need for pain, no need for my big finale, as disappointing as that will be." Nodding in the remaining demons direction, Alistair said, "And he can tell if what you're saying is the truth or not".

Castiel knew that things were going to get very bad for him, but he would never give away the battle plans given to him from his superiors. These plans must remain secret at all costs; the fate of Heaven and Earth depended upon these plans. At that point, Castiel resigned himself to the fact that would most likely die, and that he would die alone at the hands of this demon, but that Heavens plans would remain a secret.

Alistair watched the angels facial expressions change and finally settle on determination, he said "Now then....let's get started..."

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So...there was the second chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, and please let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

First of all, I owe a huge apology to you all for the length of time it has taken me to update this story. It was actually being co-written by my friend, where we would both brainstorm and I would write, (but she didn't want her details put up). Anyway, I've been asked to carry on this story on my own now... I hope I can do it justice and that you all enjoy it!

My thanks go out to you all for sticking with this story and taking the time to read it. Special thanks to those of you who have reviewed, it makes it worthwhile to know that you are enjoying the story so much!

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Supernatural, or any of the characters, so I'll stick to playing with them for the time being.

**Authors Note**: Any character thoughts/flashbacks will be shown in italics. Also, this story takes place after episode 4x10, and I'll probably work from there, and not include anything from 4x11 onwards which happens on the show...unless I'm really inspired to do so (e.g. parts of 4x15 and after it)

I struggled with writing this chapter (see above), and changed it a few times, I finally settled on this skip forward. (Don't worry, I will show plenty of what happened to Castiel through flashbacks in the next few chapters!)

**Finally: **Any mistakes here are entirely my own fault, and I'm still looking for beta if anyone has any recommendations.

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* * *

PREVIOUSLY

Alistair watched the angels facial expressions change and finally settle on determination, he then said "Now then....let's get started..."

.

* * *

SKIP FORWARD

-

Dean ran up to the doors of the church, with Sam, Uriel and Acarya following behind him. "Dean, keep back" Uriel said, reaching out the pull Dean back from bursting through the doors. "You don't know what's in there. It's best if we go first".

"The hell I don't. Castiel is in there, with Alistair. Need I say more?" Dean said, trying to get out of the angels grasp.

"Dean, we agreed before we got here. They go first, we follow behind and do what we need to" Sam said, trying to calm his brother down.

"Fine. But you know he's hurt. If he's dead, I'm blaming you" Dean said, pointing between Uriel and Acarya. In response to the disapproving looks for the angels Dean said "You felt it. You know what's happened. Why are we standing here?"

Sam felt Deans pain and said "Ok, are we ready? If we do this, we do it now, while he's gone"

Uriel and Acarya opened the door and as they stepped through two demons jumped down at them, while Dean and Sam fired their guns at the demons. More demons came at them, and while Uriel, and Dean tried to keep them at bay, Sam said the exorcism he had remembered, and the black smoke flew out of the demons mouths. The bodies they had possessed fell instantly to the ground.

"Now where?" Dean said.

Acarya held his head up and closed his eyes. Opening them again he said "Behind the far door, down the stairs".

Dean broke into a run first, the other three quickly following him. When they reached the room Acarya had directed them to they all came to a stop at the door.

Castiel lay in the middle of the room, shackled to a table, there were pools of blood on the floor beneath him. He was covered in sweat, and most of his body was bruised and cut, and the skin around the shackles on his wrists and ankles was raw & bleeding. Uriel ran over to the table first, followed by Acarya, Dean and Sam. "Castiel" he said simply.

"Heal him." Dean said, it was meant as an order but came out as something far too close to a plea.

"I can't." Uriel said, his hand hovering above Castiel, who was now shaking slightly, his half opened eyes darting around the room, not taking time to settle on anything. The angels lips moved slightly, as if we has trying to speak, but all the came out were soft whimpers.

"What do you mean you can't? You're an angel, its part of what you do!" Dean said raising his voice slightly.

At the sound of the raised voice, Castiel began to tremble more noticeably. He tried to beg for help, but all that he managed was "P... Pl....F....He....St"

"Enough" Acarya said, "We need to move him now, we will worry about healing him when we get him back to your room." Moving in and taking the Castiels face in his hands, Acarya said "Castiel. It's alright brother. You're safe now. We will fix this, we're going to help you."Castiels eyes closed at this, finally allowing himself to fall into a sleep, knowing that he had been saved.

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CASTIEL POV:

-

The ceiling was moving again. No matter how many times he closed and opened his eyes it still seemed to be swimming above him.

He felt so......wrong. He hurt all over, this was a whole new level of pain. He offered up yet another silent prayer to his father, although he felt it was a pointless effort, he had to do something and this was all he knew. _"Father, please save your child. I've tried so hard, but I don't know how much longer I can hold out. Please, I beg of you, help me". _Usually when he sent up a request for assistance he felt a warmth flow through him as he was healed, or as his request was heard. This time, yet again, he felt nothing but cold.

'_This vessel doesn't have long to go. I'll end up trapped here forever'_ he thought to himself. He felt cold...but hot...and cold. He knew he was trembling from the shock his vessel had gone into at the demons treatment of it. _'My grace... it's gone. I'm trapped....I can't...." _the all too familiar thoughts began circling in his head again. These thoughts had been circling since his grace was literally ripped from him. It only added to his pain.

There were heavy footsteps coming close to the room, and he could hear voices too, although they sounded muffled to him. He began to struggle, although he knew it was in vain.

"Castiel" one of the voices said, and he was sure he recognised it, but he couldn't dare to hope for a rescue in case it wasn't. The voices spoke but he couldn't really hear what they were saying. One of the voices grew louder and sounded angry. He flinched and he felt his vessel tremble more violently, which only caused him more pain.

He started to speak, trying to beg the demons to stop because he had nothing else to give them. When that came out as nothing but a mere sound he tried to beg his Father for help out loud, but again, he only managed a sound. Another voice spoke and then there was silence.

A figure appeared above him, taking his face in its hands. "Castiel" he heard it saying, and he managed to focus long enough to see that it was Acarya , _'my brother' _he thought. "It's alright brother. You're safe now. We will fix this, we're going to help you." Castiels felt safe knowing that Acarya was there, and that he had probably brought reinforcements. He finally allowed himself to fall into asleep, feeling safe and daring to feel hope.

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BACK TO THE RESCUE

-

"Ok, let's do this" Dean said as he, Sam and Uriel moved over to the table to help. Acarya nodded to Sam, who had also moved in to help and they both started taking off the shackles from Castiels wrists. Dean and Uriel both worked on the shackles around his ankles. Without speaking, but making his intentions clear, Acarya picked up Castiel and began carrying him towards the door. Dean and Uriel went in front, with Sam covering from behind, in case any more demons had come into the church.

There were no more demons to meet them on their way to the car. Dean and Sam ran ahead to open the back doors to the impala as Acarya carried Castiel over towards the backseat of the car. "Dean, start the car. Sam, you get in too, you must drive to the motel when we have Castiel settled" Acarya said, and both boys followed the angels request. Uriel went to the opposite side of the car and between them they got Castiels bruised and torn body into a comfortable position. "Ok, he's settled. Go" Acarya said.

"What about you? Are you not coming?" Sam asked, while Dean was looking over his driver's seat at the angel in the backseat.

"We have to seek guidance on this. We'll meet you there" Uriel said, and with that the angels were gone.

"Well let's get going" Dean said, revving the engine once and pushing the gas pedal to floor.

The journey passed fairly silently, the tension in the air was more than enough to keep the brothers from speaking. Sam turned round to check on Castiel every few minutes, the angel was still out cold, and only a few moans or gasps escaped his lips as the car turned quickly or if they went over a hole in the road.

Roughly twenty minute later the brothers pulled up in front of their room. "Thankfully it's dark dude" Dean said.

"Yeah, let's hope no-one sees us" Sam said as he and Dean both opened the back doors to the impala. Dean hooked his hands under Castiels arms, ready to pull him out, while Sam moved in to help move the angel towards Dean as gently as possible. "Ready? One, Two, Three, pull" Sam said, as he lifted the angel off the seat and moved him out of the car towards Dean. They managed it successfully, Castiel only moaned a few times from the pain the movement was causing him in his sleep. Sam ran to open the room door, and Dean carried the angel into the room, placing him on the bed furthest from the door.

"What do we do now?" Sam asked Dean, and both brothers turned to look at the bruised and beaten angel who lay on the bed before them. Castiels face began to tighten as if he was having a nightmare, which was confirmed by his sudden cry of "N....No...Ple...Please...."

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* * *

CASTIEL DREAM

-

_Alistair advanced on Castiel, picking up a knife and a bottle as he moved. Castiel closed his eyes, and despite Alistair's previous warning, he tried reaching out to feel his brothers, to give Uriel some kind of clue as to where he was, to ask his Father to save him from this forthcoming torture. All he got however, was a blank._

_His actions caught Alistair's attention "Tsk tsk tsk. I told you not to try that" Alistair said as he stopped in front of Castiel. He dipped the knife into the bottle and plunged it into Castiels stomach. Castiels eyes widened as he felt the pain, pain which he should not have felt. "Oh, yeah. I meant to tell you that..." Alistair said, pausing for effect, "...it will actually hurt you, considering anything from hell is poison to your kind" he finished with a grin on his face. _

"_I won't give you the information you want." Castiel said as he regained his senses._

"_Son, I haven't even told you what I want yet" Alistair said as though he were talking to a child. Then becoming more serious he said "That was just a taste of what's to come, if you don't co-operate with me on this". The demon then switched the subject "Did you figure out where you are yet?" Castiel looked around the room and looked back at him. Alistair continued "Guess not." _

_Castiel could still feel the light sting flowing through him as the mixture from the knife worked its way through his veins, bringing with it a hot sensation, but it wasn't the kind of warmth he was used to._

"_In fact..." Alistair said, appearing before Castiel again "since I'm in a good mood, I'm gonna actually give you a good idea of what's to come if you don't co-operate. With that the demon raised his knife and stabbed it into the angel again and again and again, the heat building up within the angel all the time..._

**Put a line here **

Well there you have it, the next chapter will be up by the weekend if not earlier as I'm on a role now....

Let me know what you though, good or bad!


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